Over on the ‘Rocket Building Blog’, master builder Chris
Michielssen is embarking on a new build of the Estes Little Joe II kit. I am in great anticipation of this blog series,
as the LJII kit is high up on my own project list for the near future. Chris also posted a little bit of historical
info on the older Centuri and Estes Little Joe kits.
This kindled some memories of the Centuri Little Joe II
which I built and flew back in 1980-1.
This is a photo of the model prior to its maiden flight
in 1980. The date is unknown, but
judging from the snow in the picture it would have taken place between January
and March of that year.
The model was flown on a (3) C6-3 engine cluster. I recall that it was a very impressive
flight.
The model’s second and final flight took place in April
of either 1981 or 1982. My flight
documentation was quite poor back at that time.
This flight was made at a public demonstration launch at the Rustic
Hills North shopping center, an annual event conducted by ROMAR, and sponsored
by a hobby store located in the strip mall.
This flight of the LJII did not go so well – in fact it
pranged on the asphalt and was damaged beyond repair.
The model can be seen in this photo lying on the table next to the PA
box. Close scrutiny reveals the 3 engine
cluster tube assembly sitting next to the rocket, and it is obvious that most
of the fins are missing.
Yep, that gangly-looking young man doing the running
commentary on the PA system is me. That was in my 'hippie' days!
I never attempted to repair the LJII, and the remnant
pieces were part of my general model rocket sale in 1985.
I’m definitely stoked about building another one….
